SOME FACTORS AFFECTING FATIGUE RESISTANCE OF WELDS

The fatigue strength of polycrystalline metals is hardness and defect size dependent. The fatigue strength of welds depends on the size of grains and actual local mean stress, too. Local mean stress is influenced by the global Rratio and static preloading. The welds in the as-welded condition are pre-stressed due to the existence of welding residual stresses. The sign and magnitude of residual stresses depend on the welding conditions. Changes of residual stresses, hardness and defect size are experimentally determined in the present work. Samples of studied metals are prepared by using either thermal cycle simulator or laboratory furnace and water quenching. The methods of microstructure preparation and type of load result in actual local R-ratio at the used weld toe models. Specimens are cyclic loaded in the similar way as steel at the weld toe. The bottom of the notch is either defect-free or defected by Vickers indentation. Final results show that coarser grain and higher local R-ratios lower the fatigue strength of welds.